


time through the eyes of another

by ladydetective



Series: Roisa Fic Week Summer 2017 [2]
Category: Jane the Virgin (TV), Orange is the New Black
Genre: F/F, Roisa Fic Week Summer 2017, outside pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 20:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydetective/pseuds/ladydetective
Summary: The inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary reflect on the relationship between two of its newest inhabitants.





	time through the eyes of another

**Author's Note:**

> This is compliant with my longer fic you've got time, but it's not necessary to have read that first - the general gist of it is that Rose was sent to prison instead of "dying" in s2, and Luisa was dragged with her.   
> I'm not sper happy with this one, but I hope you enjoy! And please consider leaving some feedback, I'm very grateful to those who did yesterday.

Red had, admittedly, not been in the best of moods the day that she had decided to starve the new girl out. Pornstache had been sniffing around the kitchens like a hound after a bone, looking for another way to extend his drug smuggling business. Red smirked at the aptness of the metaphor – he was a dog alright, a dog that deserved to be put down. But regardless, the girl’s remarks had struck a nerve with her. She loved to cook – had always loved it – but she knew that the food she made wasn’t great. It had been, once – customers would queue around the block to get a bite of some of it. Now it was bland and tasteless, but she did the best she could with the materials she was given. She’d like to see some of the idiots in this place try do a better job, anyway.

She’d made assumptions about the girl before she’d come in. The Sin Rostro case had been one of the more interesting items in the news, and something to fill the long hours between shifts in the kitchens. She thought that anyone who didn’t realise the person they were fucking was a crime lord deserved anything they had coming to them – _stupid rich brat_ , she’d thought viciously – but then again, she hadn’t realised how far Dimitri’s mafia connections ran until it had been too late, either. Perhaps they had more in common than they thought.

This line of thinking hadn’t occurred to her until days later – until she’d seen the other woman become thinner and thinner, walk with less and less energy. She’d felt the beginnings of guilt then, and started mentally drawing up the comparisons between the two of them. But she still couldn’t let the other woman go free – not without doing something for her. She had a reputation to protect. She had a sneaking suspicion that the other woman knew that – she didn’t come and beg to be fed again, at any rate. It was better than some had done.

Eventually, after almost five days, Red was beginning to see that she couldn’t let it go on for much longer. The girl was barely able to rise from bed, and didn’t interact much with anyone even when she could, instead relying on Nicky to get her places. Nicky herself had been shooting her pleading looks since it started – always a bleeding heart, was her Nicky, as much as she tried to hide it behind her ceaseless stream of sarcasm and cheek. She’d have to let the girl eat soon enough, or answer awkward questions when the Healy idiot realised what was going on.

There was no reason that the woman in front of her had to know that, however – Sin Rostro herself. Now _this_ was a woman who could make Red’s mafia contacts quiver in their boots. She supposed that she should be scared – the number of people Rose had been accused of killing was astronomical, and she wasn’t fool enough to believe that the police had dug up each and every skeleton in her closet – but oddly enough, she wasn’t. Red knew crime lords – had come toe to toe with her fair share of them, in fact – and knew what made them tick. She knew when they actually wanted something, and when they were just threatening someone for the fun. Rose actually wanted something – enough to break her usual pattern of prison operations, which had thus far been to bide her time and gather cronies – which meant that she would be willing to negotiate for it. As long as she didn’t kill her outright, of course, which Red doubted that Rose would be stupid enough to do.

It was interesting to observe the other woman as she made her threats – she was intimidating, of course, but then that was to be expected with a criminal of her calibre – but there was an aura of something else there too – something like desperation. It seems she genuinely wanted her girlfriend, lover, plaything, whatever the brunette was to her – to be safe while she was in prison. Comfortable, even.

Now, wasn’t that a turn-up for the books? Red smiled internally. She could use this – oh, how she could use this. Things in this prison needed to change, and perhaps the woman in front of her could be the one to effect that change.

‘Fine,’ said Red, aiming for nonchalance. It was harder to pull off than one might think when staring down a renowned killer, but she was nothing if not an effective actress, ‘I will let your girl eat. But,’ she said, her voice hardening, ‘you must perform one favour for me. One favour, and I will do as you wish.’

‘What favour?’ Asked Rose, suspicion lining her words.

Red chuckled. ‘Oh, I am sure that it is nothing that a person of your skillset would find morally objectionable. That is - if you find anything morally objectionable.’ She sighed, seeing the flicker of concern flash across the other woman’s face. ‘Oh, for goodness sake – I promise that your girl will come to no further harm in prison, either from me or from other sources. My favour will have nothing to do with her.’

‘Alright,’ said Rose, finally putting down the ridiculous knife, ‘We have a deal.’

* * *

 

Trish liked Luisa. She was a better sort than most – better inmate, better friend, better person. She hadn’t been sure what to make of her at first – all she knew when she saw her at that first meeting was that she’d somehow managed to piss off Red on her very first day, which, you know, ain’t really a sign of being smart. Not street smart, anyway. Not in the way that Trish was. She’d known from the get-go that crossing Red wasn’t a good move.

Whatever. She’d shown that she was alright after that. Trish hadn’t been in the best of ways after Mercy was left – some days it felt like a dark cloud was pressing down on her head, and that the only way to get rid of it was to go see her dealer. Luisa had talked her down from that, too. Red was good at keeping an eye on the junkies, but she didn’t always _get_ it. She’d never done drugs herself, didn’t understand the need, the constant voice that wouldn’t shut up until you shut it up with what it wanted. Luisa got that – the same was that Nicky or Mercy got it – and had helped her through it.

Luisa didn’t have to help her with the appeal, either, but she’d done it. The why of it honestly kinda confused Trish – anyone else would have asked for something in return. Hell, for a shot at getting out and getting back with her girl, Trish would have given anything. But she hadn’t even asked, she’d just _done_ it. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to make it up to her, no matter how many times her name appeared in Trish’s little book.

And in order to do it, she’d had to work with her ex. Trish had heard about some of the wicked complicated history between them – that was some next level dyke drama shit there, as Nicky would say. Trish didn’t think she could judge, though – she’d done some pretty bad crap when she was on the streets. It wasn’t anywhere near the same as the things Rose had apparently done, but still. It gave her a different perspective than some might have. She’d heard more about their relationship later for Nicky – and a little bit from the women themselves – and kinda. . . got it. Wasn’t she doing all this legal shit because she couldn’t stay away from Mercy?

Still, it had been weird the first time she’d seen them together. They’d sat down right next to each other, but at the same time seemed hella far apart. They only talked about Trish’s case, and even that seemed stiff and formal, as if they were trying really hard not to piss each other off. The air always seemed heavy with the things that they weren’t saying, and frankly, it was awkward as fuck for Trish to watch.

They did get better, though. As they kept meeting, kept talking, their postures relaxed. They began talking about things that were unrelated to the case – Trish didn’t always understand what they were saying, but she figured that a lot of the things were inside jokes. It got kind of annoying after a while, but it was a helluva lot better than the awkwardness of before.

Luisa seemed happier, anyway, and Trish guessed that that was the most important thing. What did it matter who was making her happy, in the end? It wasn’t her place to judge.

* * *

 

It took a while for Maria and Luisa to interact with one another. Maria was pretty new to the whole prison life herself, and she was learning that things worked out best if you just kept your head down and did your time quietly. Talking to someone who managed to get herself on top of Red’s shit-list on day one wasn’t a good way to do that.

But then she’d gone to the medbay for her usual check-up and found the other woman already there, apparently as the latest – unpaid – addition to the hospital staff. _Huh_ – now _that_ was something she hadn’t seen before, but she supposed it made sense – they had people here with no qualifications whatsoever poking their noses into the prison’s electronics system, using some pretty fucking dangerous equipment. She supposed that if this women was qualified – which she assured her that she was – then it probably wouldn’t do any harm.

Maria could tell that the other woman was really excited – her smile was _way_ too bright for this hour of the morning, and she moved with a weird kind of energy. It was sort of adorable, honestly. The story about the insemination did give Maria pause – how does that sort of shit even happen? – but the explanation that she’d given, and the fact that she was so honest about it in the first place, led her to believe that it was probably a one-off. And besides – it’s not as if she could get Maria pregnant, anyway.

Their first meeting hadn’t lasted all that long, but there had been many more – both in and outside of the medbay. Maria had been sceptical when Igme had told her that it would help having an actual inmate to talk to about her health concerns or mental worries, but it turned out that he had been right. She’d done some pretty scary shit on the outside – druglords were an. . . _interesting_ bunch – but nothing terrified her more than the prospect of giving birth in prison, of not being there to see her little girl growing up, of getting out and having her not recognise her. Her friends – Aleida, Gloria, the other girls – had been able to help to a point, but Maria had felt like she was burdening them. Aleida had never been very maternal, so her advice hadn’t been very helpful. Gloria _was_ , but she missed her own boys so much that Maria felt guilty for unloading her own worries on her.

Luisa was different, though. It was her job to listen to her, to help her though any worries that she might have. Her also being an inmate – and another relatively new one, at that – meant that she could understand her worries better than Igme and therefore offer solutions that would actually work.

As time went by – and they became more comfortable with one another – they began talking of other things. Maria learned a little of her relationship with Rose – she’d known some, of course, you’d have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about Sin Rostro and her illicit lover – but this was more personal. A lot of it seemed kinda crazy to her, she wouldn’t lie – but there was a part of her that got it, too.

When Luisa had first brought up Rose, she’d been guarded, afraid of Maria’s judgement but also scared of what moving forward may mean. Apparently, they’d settled on being friends, for now, but both knew that it was not a state that could last. It extended the time given to her to make a decision, but was not a decision in and of itself. She honestly wasn’t sure what would be best for the other woman, but she encouraged it anyway – every time she returned from a meeting with Rose, her eyes were a little brighter, her smile a little wider.

She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing for her to do, but it made her happy. Maria could live with it.


End file.
